School year ends across Nunavik

Kativik Ilisarniliriniq officially announces students will not return to class before fall

Schools across Nunavik, including Asimauttaq School in Kuujjuaraapik seen here, have closed for the remainder of the school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Elaine Anselmi)

By Nunatsiaq News

The school year in Nunavik has officially ended due to the current coronavirus pandemic.

“In light of these developments, the Council of Commissioners met and decided that the school year would end today in Nunavik,” said the announcement from the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq school board on Tuesday, March 24.

Students will still be able to graduate despite this.

According to the board, final grades will be determined by the student’s first- and second-term grade, and this will be used to determine whether they move on to the next grade level.

In particular, the board states, for Secondary 5 students looking at high school graduation, those who passed their first two terms will graduate.

The board will be releasing optional learning activities for students that can be done at home. Quebec’s Ministry of Education is also releasing educational resources on March 30, which will be shared with Nunavimmiut.

In additional to this, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq is developing a list of different activities for families to do during the time away from school, including activities for in the home and out on the land.

There are still questions about what this will mean for students with learning difficulties who require extra support.

This is an issue across the province, the board said, where schools remain closed until at least May 1. The board said it’s looking for solutions to provide support to those students outside of the classroom.

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(6) Comments:

Posted by Tommy Palliser on 28 March, 2020

Now would be a good time to start looking at investing in online education resources. What are the reasons we are not looking into online educational development?

Teachers can work with developers and teach from home, producing programs that can be used to teach kids at home, helping them with their school, helping parents with resources and tools that they would not have to help with their children.

Online resources can be used – Youtube, Facebook, Vimeo, etc.

Students sometimes miss school already with very limited or no substitute teachers during the year.

It’s about time to look at innovative ways to teach kids in Nunavik and even Nunavut, online, with all the resources that can be used now, that were not available back then, and we want to break free from the past and its limitations.

We need new ideas, new solutions with our new tools that we can now use. What is stopping us???

Posted by No motivation on 30 March, 2020

What’s stopping us is no motivation in the people that needs to put this in place. Nunavik has an illness of no motivation. Depending on someone out there all the time. Too many people are using alcohol and drugs and abusing others around them. The jails can’t keep up. In this crisis, we’ll see most places in Quebec and Canada go forward with innovative ways to grow, while Nunavik will be concerned about their cargo and drugs. And days spent In Court, telling the judge why this and that abuse took place.

Posted by Tommy on 30 March, 2020

I agree, motivation is very limited and people who can make a difference don’t, and this is what keeps us going around in circles, complaining about the same issues. Only thing that can be done is to take matters in your own hands and do something, I will home teach my kids at home and will see what can be done to sit on the board of the school board. Enough is enough, I want to see change…

Posted by No difference on 28 March, 2020

In this town, primary never has school anyways, so the only difference will be they won’t be going to school for nothing. They’re always sent back home because they have no teacher (teacher’s kid or stepkid is sick or they received their cargo or they got paid; plus all the excuses in their book)

Last year their attendance was 30%.

Posted by What education? This is a shame! on 29 March, 2020

I have three sons, two sons who go to elementary school and half the time the teacher isn’t even there and when they are, they’re not teaching. What would be a half a school year just got chopped down into 1/4! Woah! Will they be paying for our houses and food while we are teaching our kids? Some of us have jobs! Some of us work in what is essential services and Quebec won’t allow us to apply for social assistance! Some of us have high rent due to the fact of both parents earnings and how Kmhb calculates their arrears. $1000+! On a 1400 or 1600$ Biweekly if me or my partner isn’t working. 2200$ for gas, food, clothing, bills, isn’t near enough! We don’t even drink or do drugs and we are already struggling! I do understand that it’s to stop the spread of covid 19, but as tommy said above.. look into online courses instead of jumping the gun and cutting off the school year. This is shameful.

Posted by Alcoholic teacher on 30 March, 2020

Absentee from school and daycares takes its toll on our children. Teachers and daycare workers from the local population, are absent often after bingo nights. That when the home parties usual take place. Sometimes mornings after bingo night the town is literal shut down , no daycare , lots of classes at school closed. Teachers and daycare workers sleeping off their hangovers. That’s the routine for our children. Now these same workers can drink all they want and sleep in. They’re now still partying, and big time potential carriers of the virus. Kids are better of out of school.